The indoor skate park at the Greg Moore Youth Centre will reopen Sunday, May 13 with a new look and new features thanks to an $18,000 upgrade.
The skate park has been shut since April while the skate park was renovated. The new-and-improved skate park features a new quarter pipe-style ramp running the length of the youth centre’s main activity area, and includes new rails and transitions.
The new design features more skate-able features, while allowing for other uses in the space, such as floor hockey games and concerts, said youth programmer Meghan MacMillan.
“It’s a permanent feature and it balanced with the other uses [of the youth centre],” she said.
Teens who use the park had a say in how it was designed. The Greg Moore Youth Centre’s youth mentors and users worked with New Line Skateparks to design the skate park features, which replaced an aging, decade-old wooden half pipe, with the goal of creating something that would meet the needs of all styles and abilities of riders.
“We worked really closely with New Line and took a lot of people’s ideas into consideration,” said Jesse Holland, a junior staff member at the youth centre.
“In the end we came up with a design that meets the needs of skaters and the youth centre.”
Also new to the skate park is a mural by Chris Kupskay of Blindfold Murals. It too was designed with input from teens at the youth centre.
The skate park’s grand opening takes place this Sunday, May 13 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. with a free skate and free hotdogs. Skateboarders aged 13 to 18 are invited to take part.
The youth centre will also be offering one-year Active Pass for the discounted rate of $30 for the entire year. The pass allows users unlimited use of the youth centre, including the rock-climbing wall and the skate park, as well as 20 per cent off special events and outings organized by the youth centre.